Bitcoin
ByAuthor J.D. SmithPosted on
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CME Bitcoin futures numbers saw a 57% uptick in January

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Bitcoin’s price rose significantly in January. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, or CME, also hit record Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading numbers in the same month. 

“In January, BTC average daily volume (ADV) reached a monthly record of 17,549 contracts (87.7K equivalent bitcoin),” a CME representative told Cointelegraph. Each CME Bitcoin futures contract is worth the value of 5 BTC paid out in dollars.

“In December 2020, BTC average daily volume (ADV) reached 11,179 contracts (55.9K equivalent bitcoin),” the representative added. “This represents a +57% increase.”

In January, Bitcoin rose from $30,000 up to almost $42,000, according to TradingView data. The month before, the asset had broken its longstanding record high of approximately $20,000, surging up to nearly $30,000 by the end of 2020.

“We are continuing to see robust interest in our Bitcoin futures contracts, with a record 528 accounts added in January, helping drive BTC average daily volume (ADV) to a monthly record of 17,549 contracts (87.7K equivalent bitcoin), up 63% YoY,” the CME representative said.

CME’s BTC futures trading product has gained a notable number of users since its inception in December 2017. “7,400+ unique, active accounts have traded since launch,” CME said in a recent report showing numbers up to Feb. 17. “Of those, 733 were added in 2021, 2.3x more than in 2020,” the report added.

Bitcoin recently dropped more than $13,000 from its last record high, although the asset has since regained some ground, trading at around $49,200 as of publication time.

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ByAuthor J.D. SmithPosted on
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India’s largest crypto exchange adopts decentralized Unstoppable Domains

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India’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Unocoin, has adopted the blockchain-based Unstoppable Domains, which simplifies crypto transactions by turning blockchain addresses into human-readable web URLs.

Announced on Wednesday, the partnership between Unocoin and Unstoppable Domains — both funded by Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper — is expected to reduce remittance costs and simplify the transaction process for the exchange’s 1.2 million users.

Unstoppable Domains turns crypto addresses into decentralized websites on the Ethereum and Zilliqa blockchains. Instead of sending coins to a 42-character blockchain address, Unstoppable Domains allows users to create simple URLs ending in “.crypto” and “.zil” extensions. Domain names need only be purchased once, and then exist forever on the blockchain without requiring any renewal or maintenance fees.

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Ethereum on track to settle $1.6 trillion this quarter

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The network is currently on-pace to settle $1.6 trillion in transactions for the first quarter of this year. In the last 12 months, Ethereum has already settled $2.1 trillion in transactions.

If Messari’s $1.6 trillion forecast is accurate, Ethereum’s quarterly settlement value will have increased 1,280% compared to Q1 2020, and more than 5,000% compared to Q1 2019. 

Messari researcher Ryan Watkins noted the data counters the prevailing narrative that Ethereum is seeing an exodus of users amid its high gas fees, exclaiming:

“Incredible scale for a technology that critics claimed couldn’t scale.”

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Bitcoin whale from 2010 moves 100 BTC for first time in 11 years

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A veteran miner has cracked open their 2010 stash of Bitcoin, with crypto analysts spotting 100 BTC being transferred from two wallets that had laid dormant for more than a decade.

Prior to today’s transaction, the addresses had not seen any activity since receiving a 50 BTC Coinbase reward each nearly 11 years ago, except for two incoming transactions worth just 0.00000547 BTC each that were sent to the wallets in the last six months.

The Feb. 25 transaction combined the two mining address outputs, indicating both addresses belong to the same owner. The two blocks were mined only a couple of hours apart on Jun. 10, 2010.

Bitcoin is currently trading for $49,800, giving the coins a combined value of nearly $5 million. With BTC trading for $0.08 when the coins were mined, the whale’s holdings have increased in value by 622,500 times.

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The cryptocurrency market is showing signs of progress following a multiday sell-off that saw the total market capitalization drop by more than $400 billion as Bitcoin’s (BTC) price briefly fell below $46,000. 

While the majority of altcoins have entered a consolidation phase that includes a retest of underlying support levels, several projects have started to regain lost ground after new developments reignited investors’ optimism.

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